Perfect timing as Sexton finds his better form
STEVE Hansen owns a few horses and enjoys a punt. Come the first test, he may well be twofrom-two in his Lions tour predictions.
Hansen caused a stir this week by pre-empting Warren Gatland calling in six replacement players. Anyone would think Hansen has a listening device stuffed in the Lions’ toy mascot trusted in English lock Maro Itoje’s keeping.
After thrashing Samoa at Eden Park on Friday night, the All Blacks coach was at it again, suggesting Gatland would start Owen Farrell at No 12 outside Jonathan Sexton.
At that point Sexton had done little to say he was up to the task. The Irish first five-eighth looked gun-shy in the opening match of the tour in Whangarei.
But on a cold, wet night in Rotorua, Sexton finally found some much-needed form. Irish flanker Sean O’Brien said during the week Sexton just needed a ‘bit of a cuddle’ to come right. If that’s all it takes, expect a few more warm fuzzies to be thrown Sexton’s way.
The quad injury to Farrell, the original favourite for the Lions 10 jersey, seemingly put more heat on Sexton to front in Rotorua. Challenging conditions suited his game and the Lions much more than the Maori, but what Sexton did he did well.
With Leigh Halfpenny banging over six penalties and halfback Conor Murray merrily box kicking all night, much of the pressure was off Sexton’s shoulders. He made two breaks in the first half, one of which even featured a nice offload to Welsh centre Jonathan Davies. Sexton also put one heady nudge into the corner and barked his troops around.
It may not inspire all observers but Sexton and others found plenty of success with the high ball, too. James Lowe, guilty on two occasions, Tom Franklin, Nehe Milner-Skudder and Rieko Ioane were among those to drop hoists to the heavens.
Should Farrell recover, the upshot now is Hansen’s second prediction could well play out next Saturday at Eden Park against the All Blacks. Sexton-Farrell is a real possibility.
It would, however, signal a big shift in thinking from Gatland, who traditionally favours direct second-fives.
What an unfortunate night it was for Colin Cooper’s Maori. From their perspective the fourth unofficial test fell completely flat; their stacked backline never getting a look in.
Their haka was quality, as expected. But from there it could not have gone worse, really. Behind a well beaten pack Damian McKenzie battled to spark things from No 10. Their handling was poor, and they struggled to build any consistent pressure or phases with O’Brien and Itoje contesting and slowing ruck ball.
By the time Tawera KerrBarlow copped a yellow card for a shoulder to the head of a slipping Halfpenny, and the Lions worked a penalty try from their scrum, the ‘‘Lions, Lions’’ chant found full voice among the 28,117 crowd.
It may be dull but it sure was clinical from the Lions. They scored two tries with Kerr-Barlow off the field. Their set piece dominated. Their maul set the platform for the Irish halves pairing to dictate terms. And, of course, they were physical.
Just like the All Blacks are well aware, the Lions will provide a much tougher test than Samoa so, too, will Gatland appreciate Hansen’s pack will be fizzing to test themselves.
Two wins does not solve all Gatland’s problems. He still has some seriously tough selection decisions. How he could justify selecting tour captain Sam Warburton, who came on with 18 minutes to go, over the relentless O’Brien is beyond belief.
But on the evidence of this 32-10 win and victory over the Crusaders, at least we can say the test series is well alive. Even if it will be a clash of very contrasting styles.